At the time of the writing of this article, Daniel Aaronson is preparing for oral argument in front of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.  For those of you who do not understand the Federal Judicial System, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals along with the other Circuit Courts of Appeals are the rungs of Court directly below the United States Supreme Court.  The case that is being prepared for oral argument is Daytona Grand (Lollipops) v. The City of Daytona Beach.

Why this is important to the people of South Florida and around the State of Florida is that if you remember, this case is the first case nationwide, or at least it is believed to be, that the adult entertainment industry actually won after a trial showing that nudity or alcohol and nudity did not cause adverse secondary effects at adult dancing establishments.  If Mr. Aaronson is successful on this appeal, it will certainly keep alive in the States of Georgia, Florida and Alabama the rights of adult establishments to contest in court that they do not cause adverse secondary effects (various harms to the community).  If the case is lost, the issue of adult establishments causing adverse secondary effects might just be foreclosed in this part of the country.  Further, since it is becoming harder and harder to challenge ordinances based upon adult establishments not causing adverse secondary effects, all through the country, this case would certainly be influential as to whether the adverse secondary effects issue remains alive for adult entertainment establishments across the country or another nail is put in the coffin on this argument.

There are three issues involved in the appeal.  The first issue is whether the city provided sufficient locations for adult entertainment establishments to locate within the city.  The second two issues deal with whether or not the city was justified in banning nudity in adult clubs and alcohol and nudity in adult clubs.  As said above, at least the last two issues are ones that may have monumental affects throughout the country.

On another note, in the case involving the three adult bookstores that have sued Miami-Dade County because of the Miami-Dade County Ordinance prohibiting doors on adult viewing booths, the County has just submitted to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, their brief in opposition to the three bookstore’s briefs that were filed previously.  The three bookstores, now will have the opportunity to file a reply brief to the one filed by the County government.  After all of the briefs are submitted, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals will set down this case also for oral argument before it.

As to the two adult cases out of the City of Lauderhill, that being University Video, Inc. v. The City of Lauderhill and the XXX Group d/b/a Thee Fantasy Shoppe v. The City of Lauderhill, both of these cases are progressing with trial dates scheduled for later this year.  The issues in these cases center around the City of Lauderhill’s definition of adult entertainment or more specifically adult bookstores, and their code enforcement procedures.  The bookstores have alleged that first of all that they were not adult bookstores under the City of Lauderhill’s Code, and that the City of Lauderhill’s Code’s definition of adult bookstore is unconstitutional.  Further, the bookstores have challenged the City’s code enforcement procedures, that allow or have allowed code enforcement to shut down these types of establishments prior to any type of court hearing or even code enforcement hearing.  A procedure, that in our opinion, obviously since we are representing these stores, violate the United States Constitution and are therefore unconstitutional.

As always, we will keep you informed as these cases progress through the judicial system.  As to the oral argument in Atlanta on the Daytona Grand case, in next months article, we will let you know how it went, but do not expect a ruling from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for months to come.